


How We Desire

by diningwithpsychopaths



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Asexual Will, Domestic, Established Relationship, M/M, post-season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-12
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-06-01 18:34:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6531379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diningwithpsychopaths/pseuds/diningwithpsychopaths
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will notices the vegetable vendor at the market flirting with Hannibal, and it leads to him wondering if Hannibal isn't as content as Will is to live together without a sexual relationship. After shopping, Will confronts Hannibal about he wants from their relationship, and Hannibal soothes this worries.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How We Desire

The man behind the spice stall at the Farmer’s Market was flirting with Hannibal. Will noticed it right away, and knew Hannibal must’ve also picked up on it. Their tone was casual, though Will’s Spanish was still too patchy to fully understand, and the vendor leaned forward as he spoke, his brown eyes focused completely on Hannibal, and Will understood why. Hannibal was quite the charmer especially when it came to fresh produce, and he was undeniably handsome. However, this wasn’t something Will had thought much about even after having lived together for three years in Argentina. Of course, Will knew Hannibal was attractive, but it had never really been a point of interest, and paled against what really mattered about Hannibal.

Will watched as the vegetable vendor handed Hannibal his business card after scribbling what was probably his personal phone number on the back. Hannibal took it with a polite smile, and Will wondered if he would call. In fact, he wondered if Hannibal had ever pursued any sort of sexual pleasure since they had settled into their new life. It would have been years since Hannibal had anyone in his bed; not since Bedelia in Florence. Since starting their new life Will and Hannibal slept together, but there was nothing sexual about it. Did Hannibal want there to be?

The question flitted through Will’s mind as they completed their shopping at the morning market. His relationship with Hannibal was something that was life-long and certainly passionate, and if they had to give it a label (beyond hunting partners) it was almost similar to marriage. Except, without the sex and official documents. Their physical passion was expressed through killing together. Their cheeks warm and their eyes hungry as their hands brushed against one another deep in the entrails of the rude and unworthy. There was also a level of intimacy between them; small things that perhaps weren’t so normal between two male friends. Sleeping in the same bed, cuddling as they read on the couch, washing one another’s wounds, but it never escalated to something sexual. Will frowned at Hannibal’s back as they made their way back to their home on the cliff side. Did Hannibal desire anything more? 

For Will, he had never bothered to think about it because they had fit so well together in this life they had created for one another after their deaths in America. Not to mention, sex had never been something Will had ever actively sought out. Of course he’d had sex, in college he’d done it with a nice girl from one of his forensic classes, but it’d been pretty boring. Once he’d even sucked off a guy in a bar, but it only made his jaw sore and he had been relieved when the guy wasn’t concerned with returning the favor. Even when he was married with Molly, they’d only had sex a few times, and during it he kept the focus on her. They’d both reasoned it to be a result of trauma, but Will had never been sexually assaulted. When Molly touched him it never stirred any memory of Hannibal unless she was touching his scars.

When Will and Hannibal arrived home, Will set about making them coffee while Hannibal put away the groceries. After they were done, Will followed Hannibal out onto the patio to drink their coffee, and enjoy the rest of the morning. At least Will wanted to, but the curiosity about the vegetable vendor kept nagging at him. More than that, though, he was beginning to be concerned he might be depriving Hannibal of a connection he desired. Hannibal was a sexual man, he’d learned that from Alana who, before they hooked up, told Will about the various affairs Hannibal had had. Affairs with people of multiple genders, including men.

“Are you going to call the vegetable vendor?” Will asked. He kept his eyes fixed on his mug, but he regretted asking almost immediately. The idea of Hannibal seeing anyone, besides him, in any context made his stomach twist. He should be above jealously, especially when he knew he wasn’t looking to start something sexual with Hannibal, but the idea that Hannibal could desire anyone but him felt wrong. 

“Do you think I should?” Hannibal asked. He sounded curious, but more about Will’s answer than the actual prospect of pursing the other man.

“You haven’t had sex with anyone since we arrived,” Will said. Might as well be blunt about it. Beating around the bush with Hannibal could get wearisome now that they lived bared and honest lives with one another. No more need for secrets when the game was over.

“I wasn’t aware that you were interested in my sexual affairs.”

Will’s ears felt hot with blush. “I’m not. Not really.”

“Then why bring it up?”

Will took a long drink of coffee, and then looked up at Hannibal’s. His maroon eyes held a twinkle that the morning sun highlighted. 

“I don’t want to restrain you from pursing what makes you happy,” Will said.

“I am happy.” One of Hannibal’s micro-smiles flashed upon his lips. “I’m happy here, in the life that you and I have carved together for ourselves.”

“So then you’re not going to call him?”

“Do you want me to?”

“No,” Will said. It was definite and quick; he didn’t even need to contemplate why he needed to say it, only that it was what needed to be said. “Do you desire me.” He paused. He could drop the subject here, but he needed to know. “Sexually.”

“Do you desire me?”

“I asked first,” Will said. 

Hannibal chuckled, and relaxed further in his chair. “You are a very attractive man, Will,” he said. “I have envisioned you in many ways, and I will admit that I have thought of you while I pleasured myself and even when I was with others.” Hearing him say it caused Will’s chest to tighten. There was both relief and fear. He was the one to open this can of worms, and now he would have to see it through. “However, I desire you as we are now. Here, together, in the life we have waited so long to create and have made so beautiful for ourselves. I hunger for you daily, and it is the mere sight of you that sates me.”

“Then you don’t need to have sex with me?” Will asked. He should leave it alone, but like Hannibal, once a wound appeared he needed to pick at it until it bled enough to satisfy him.

“Would you want to have sex with me?”

The answer to that was just as clear as whether he wanted Hannibal to have sex with someone else, but it was not so forthcoming on his tongue.

“Let me ask another question,” Hannibal said after a long pause. “Did you enjoy sex, before, with others?”

“Assuming I’ve had sex before,” Will said.

“There was a period where you did your best to maintain the idolized hetero-normative lifestyle of matrimony and family.”

Will snorted at that. The disgust in Hannibal’s tone was thicker than the cream in their coffee. They tended to avoid all mention Will’s previous family. The years of separation were still a raw subject for both of them, and any words about it always came with bitterness.

“I could stomach it.”

“I would never ask you to stomach anything for me.”

“Only people,” Will teased.

Hannibal gave him a grin, with a flash of teeth that Will couldn’t help but return. He was incredibly lucky to have this man, who understood him and desired him for the person he was rather than the image he was supposed to uphold. Still, Will needed to pick at this topic just a bit more. He’d heard about people who never experienced sexual desire until they found someone they connected deeply with, and if there was ever anyone who could be that for Will, it would be Hannibal.

“Can I try something?” Will asked.

“Of course,” Hannibal consented.

Will set his coffee down on the small wood table between, and then stood. Swiftly, before he lost the courage, he leaned down and kissed Hannibal. It was interesting, but nothing different from when he had kissed other people. Hannibal’s lips were warm and soft, though not as full as his own. The kiss was undemanding, and while Hannibal did lean into it some, he made no attempt to deepen it. After a few seconds, Will sat down, and took another drink of his coffee. 

“Did you discover what you wanted?” Hannibal asked him after a few moments.

“The kiss was interesting,” Will said.

“But not something you want to pursue.”

Will gave him an apologetic smile. “Is that fine? I know it’s not normal.”

“This life we create consists only of rules and desires we create for one another,” Hannibal said. “We are not bound to uphold any social obligations that rule the lives of countless others.”

“You don’t mind?”

“All I’ve ever wanted for you, for us, is to be together.” Hannibal reached across the space between their two chairs, and settled his hand atop Will’s on the chair’s arm. “You have opened your mind to me, and embraced the potential that lay dormant for too many years. Now you allow me to be by your side, hunting and living together. That is all I have ever wanted.”

Hearing that dissipated any lingering fear Will had dredged up in order to confront this with Hannibal. Will flips his hand over, and fits his fingers between the spaces of Hannibal’s own, giving him a small squeeze. This life with Hannibal was truly all he’d ever wanted.

**Author's Note:**

> I have had many conversations about Will Graham's sexually, and this fic is a result of one of those many conversations. I hope you enjoyed it ^_^
> 
> I have Hannibal tumblr: http://hannibalsgodcomplex.tumblr.com/


End file.
